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BSW Field Placement

The field internship takes place during the spring semester and
is a placement for a minimum of 400 clock hours. The student works
at their field placement for 32 hours per week for the entire
semester and attends the senior seminar once a week at the Saint
Leo University campus. Students are responsible for their own
transportation to their field placements.

Requirements for Admission to SWK 425: Field Placement in
Social Work

To be eligible for SWK 425, a student must maintain a minimum
2.0 GPA in all social work courses. A student must demonstrate
dependability, good character, acceptable standards of professional
conduct, effective integration of practice skills necessary for
professional social work practice, and satisfactory academic
standing.

Students who are denied admission to field placement must select
another major.

Field Placement Supervision & Grading

An approved on-site M.S.W. supervisor, the field instructor,
supervises the students. Twice during the semester, for the
mid-term evaluation and final evaluation, the student is visited by
the social work program field liaison who conducts an interview
with the student and field instructor to monitor progress, address
concerns, and review all evaluation materials. The field liaison
assigns the final grade for the student.

Senior Seminar

The senior seminar is designed to integrate social work course
materials with the student's field experience. This is achieved
through weekly seminar discussion of the student's field placement,
numerous presentations, resume building, interviewing, formal case
presentations, and an integrative senior paper.

Program Objectives & Outcomes

The field instruction in the social work program grows out of
the overall educational goals of the program. It is student- and
learning-centered, and the learning sought is conceptual—that is,
it teaches principles that are generalized and transferable.

The broad objectives of the field internship are that students
must demonstrate practice competence in the 10 identified
educational outcomes:

Identify and assess situations where the relationship between
people and their environment needs to be initiated, enhanced,
restored, protected or terminated.

Develop and implement a plan for improving the wellbeing of
people based on problem assessment and the exploration of
obtainable goals and available options.

Enhance the problem-solving, coping and developmental
capacities of people.

Link people with and assist in the development of systems that
provide them with resources, services, and opportunities.

Intervene effectively on behalf of diverse and oppressed
populations.

Promote the effective and humane operation of the systems that
provide people with services, resources, and opportunities.

Contribute to the improvement of service delivery by
participating in change efforts with others in response to
community needs.

Evaluate at various intervals throughout the intervention
process, the extent to which the objectives of the planned change
effort were achieved.

Evaluate and pursue one's own professional growth, development,
and performance.

ontribute to the improvement of service delivery by supporting
and upholding professional standards, values, and ethics.